The recent return of Ricky Rubio from an ACL injury has peaked interest in Derrick Rose’s rehab process.

Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau shed some light on Rose’s current state on Thursday. He provided detail on his star point guard’s effort to come back from a torn ACL suffered on April 28 in a playoff matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers. The initial prognosis for Rose’s healthy return following May 12 surgery was in the eight to 12 month ballpark.

Derrick Rose remains on pace to return to the Chicago Bulls when he reaches full health. (AP Photo)

"He's right on schedule," Thibodeau said on "Mike & Mike In The Morning" on ESPN Radio, according to ESPNChicago.com. "He's not ahead of schedule. He's not behind. We have to be patient. It's the type of injury that you have to take your time with, and when he's ready to come back, he'll be ready to come back. There is no time scheduled for it."

So far, Rose has begun shooting, running and cutting on the knee. The Chicago Bulls organization remains cautious with their star player, with even owner Jerry Reisndorf saying he won’t allow Rose to return until he is 100 percent.

"He's doing a lot, but he hasn't done anything with contact," Thibodeau said. "So we're going to go step by step. First he has to get into practice and he has to practice well for a while. And then we'll move on from there.

"Hopefully at some point during the second half of the season he'll rejoin us."

The Bulls have maintained a better record without Rose than was expected. They sit at 14-10 on the season and are fourth in the Eastern Conference standings, thanks to the superb play and extended minutes from Joakim Noah and Luol Deng.